Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Censorship in America expanding to movies: After a wild week of stocks, you can’t stream most of the biggest Wall Street films

Censorship in America expanding to movies: After a wild week of stocks, you can’t stream most of the biggest Wall Street films

The Big Short, The Wolf of Wall Street, Wall Street, and more are unavailable on US streaming services

It has been a wild week for the stock market, with amateur traders from Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets subreddit battling traditional investors. The past several days have been full of massive swings in stocks like GameStop and AMC and app-fueled drama that’s sparked a larger debate over the nature of Wall Street as a whole.

But if you were hoping to kick back this weekend, relax, and enjoy a classic business movie about shark-like investors and over-confident Wall Street executives, you’re probably out of luck. Nearly every major finance film isn’t available to stream right now in the US (at least, not at the time of publication of this article), thanks to the capricious nature of the streaming marketplace, the increasingly fragmented libraries of studios, and the byzantine licensing deals that regulate what you can stream and where.

This week’s short stock drama have you hankering for The Big Short? You won’t find it on Netflix, Hulu, or HBO Max. Right now, you can stream it with ads on Crackle, of all services. Paramount (which distributed the film) might be saving it for Paramount Plus, which is set to launch in March, but that won’t do you any good this weekend. Instead, your only option is to buy or rent it — which, it seems, many people are doing, given that the film has shot to the No. 3 spot on iTunes.

Maybe the ups and downs of the stock market reminded you more of Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, chronicling the rise and fall of investor Jordan Belfort. But the Paramount film is nowhere to be found on any streaming platform. So unless you’re willing to pony up some actual cash to buy or rent the film (which, like The Big Short, is shooting up rental charts), you won’t be enjoying Leonardo DiCaprio’s profanity-fueled chest-thumping either. The same applies to 2000’s Boiler Room, which is also absent from any streaming service.



20th Century Fox’s Wall Street is — predictably — not on Disney Plus to stream, but it’s also not available on Hulu or any other service. If you are looking for a financial film to watch this weekend, though, the sequel, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, is on Amazon Prime. There’s also Margin Call, which is streaming on Peacock (for now).

But the dearth of classic Wall Street films isn’t a unique issue. It’s one that streaming services have been grappling with in recent years, as big players like Netflix and Hulu have been less encompassing and streaming services have focused more on building up libraries of original content. There was a similar issue during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when millions of viewers looking to watch Steven Soderbergh’s 2011 film Contagion were frustrated that the film wasn’t available to stream anywhere.

The fact that iconic Wall Street films will similarly miss the big moment around ambitious investors and skeevy short selling is indicative of a bigger problem with streaming in 2021, one that will likely continue to get worse as more and more studios continue to reclaim their content for their own services.

Then again, it’s almost fitting that the only way to watch The Wolf of Wall Street or The Big Short this weekend is to pay a little extra cash back into the big financial machine.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
Hungary Ranked Among the World’s Safest Travel Destinations for 2025
G7 Leaders Fail to Reach Consensus on Key Global Issues
FBI and Senate Investigate Allegations of Chinese Plot to Influence the 2020 Election in Biden’s Favor Using Fake U.S. Driver’s Licenses
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Shock Within Iran’s Leadership: Khamenei’s Failed Plan to Launch 1,000 Missiles Against Israel
Wreck of $17 Billion San José Galleon Identified Off Colombia After 300 Years
Man Convicted of Fraud After Booking Over 120 Free Flights Posing as Flight Attendant
Iran Launches Extensive Missile Attack on Israel Following Israeli Strikes on Nuclear Sites
Beata Thunberg Rebrands as Beata Ernman Amidst Sister's Activism Controversy
Hungarian Parliament Approves Citizenship Suspension Law
Prime Minister Orbán Criticizes EU's Ukraine Accession Plans
Hungarian Delicacies Introduced to Japanese Market
Hungary's Industrial Output Rises Amid Battery Sector Slump
President Sulyok Celebrates 15 Years of Hungarian Unity Efforts
Hungary's Szeleczki Shines at World Judo Championships
Visegrád Construction Trends Diverge as Hungary Lags
Hungary Hosts National Quantum Technology Workshop
Hungarian Animation Featured at Annecy Festival
Israel Issues Ultimatum to Iran Over Potential Retaliation and Nuclear Facilities
UK and EU Reach New Economic Agreement
Coinbase CEO Warns Bitcoin Could Supplant US Dollar Amid Mounting National Debt
Trump to Iran: Make a Deal — Sign or Die
Operation "Like a Lion": Israel Strikes Iran in Unprecedented Offensive
Israel Launches 'Operation Rising Lion' Targeting Iranian Nuclear and Military Sites
UK and EU Reach Agreement on Gibraltar's Schengen Integration
Israeli Finance Minister Imposes Banking Penalties on Palestinians
U.S. Inflation Rises to 2.4% in May Amid Trade Tensions
Trump's Policies Prompt Decline in Chinese Student Enrollment in U.S.
Global Oceans Near Record Temperatures as CO₂ Levels Climb
Trump Announces U.S.-China Trade Deal Covering Rare Earths
Smuggled U.S. Fuel Funds Mexican Cartels Amid Crackdown
Austrian School Shooting Leaves Nine Dead in Graz
Bezos's Lavish Venice Wedding Sparks Local Protests
Europe Prepares for Historic Lunar Rover Landing
Italian Parents Seek Therapy Amid Lengthy School Holidays
British Fishing Vessel Seized by France Fined €30,000
Dutch Government Collapses Amid Migration Policy Dispute
UK Commits to 3.5% GDP Defence Spending Under NATO Pressure
Germany Moves to Expedite Migrant Deportations
US Urges UK to Raise Defence Spending to 5% of GDP
Israeli Forces Intercept Gaza-Bound Aid Vessel Carrying Greta Thunberg
IMF Warns of Severe Global Trade War Impacts on Emerging Markets
Low Turnout Jeopardizes Italy's Citizenship Reform Referendum
Transatlantic Interest Rate Divergence Widens as Trump Pressures Powell
EU Lawmaker Calls for Broader Exemptions in Supply Chain Legislation
France's Defense Spending Plans Threatened by High National Debt
European Small-Cap Stocks Outperform U.S. Rivals Amid Growth Revival
Switzerland Proposes $26 Billion Capital Increase for UBS
×